COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, December 12, 2022

HEADED ITEM NO.4 e (i)

REPLY:

Draft Minutes of Social, Community & Equality Strategic Policy Committee Meeting at 3p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2022 via Microsoft Teams

In Attendance: Cllr. T. Gilligan (Chair), Cllr. V. Casserly, Cllr. C. O’Connor, Cllr. S. O'Hara, Cllr. P. Holohan, L. Byrne (PPN)

Apologies: Cllr. C. Bailey, D. Hennessy (PPN),

Officials Present:  C. Ward (Director of Services), J. Moroney Ward (Senior Executive Officer, Community), T. McDermott (Local Sports Coordinator), P. McAlerney (Senior Community Officer), P. Swayne (Age Friendly Officer), L. Cush (Sports Disability Officer), A. Troy (Senior Staff Officer, (Social Inclusion Unit), M. Murtagh, (Administrative Officer) F. Keane (Senior Staff Officer), M. Farrell (Clerical Officer).

The Chair, Cllr. Gilligan opened the meeting at 3pm.

  1. Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 20 September 2022 were proposed by Cllr. Gilligan, seconded by Cllr. O’Hara and agreed.

  1. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

  1. Healthy Ireland

Lucy Cush (Sports Disability Officer) delivered a report on the Healthy Ireland Initiative. ‘Healthy Ireland is a government led initiative aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of everyone living in Ireland’

Ms. Cush outlined the four key goals of the project which are to:

All Local Authorities will have a healthy Ireland co-ordinator and the program will have an outcomes led approach. The program will prioritise project outcomes based on local data, needs and in collaboration with local stakeholders.

The project is funded up to €75,000 for 2023 AND €40,000 FOR 2024 and 2025.

The 3-year Healthy Ireland Fund Local Strategy annual activities workplan 2023 and supporting documentation must be submitted by 3pm on 27th January 2023.

The HI Outcomes Framework has 27 programme level outcome indicators under 5 outcomes areas of which Local Authorities must select a minimum of one and a maximum of two and provide at least two project outputs for each project outcome.

There was questions and contributions from Cllr. Gilligan who raised the issue of vaping and its growth in popularity over the recent past in addition to the use of Nitrous Oxide cannisters; Cllr. Holohan who welcomed the HI initiative and would like to see a focus not just on one aspect of a healthy lifestyle but a combination of many approaches. Cllr. O’Hara also welcomed the program and the need to focus on physical activity.

Cllr. Casserly asked about inclusion of people with a disability and Ms. Cush responded to confirm they are a target group.

The timeline for the project was outlined and welcomed by the committee.

The report was noted.

  1. Community Centre Management & Governance Support

J Moroney Ward delivered a report on the grants that are focusing on community centres. The centres are striving to be an open and welcoming place for all the community – a hub of connections.

The focus of the support is to enhance operational capacity and build an evidence-based plan.

There will be three strands of funding:

  1. Staffing/organisational - maximum grant of €30,000 to help build a sustainable organisational structure.
  2. Operational support – fund to cover key operational costs not covered by other grants.
  3. Events led support – centres to apply for event grants for full year and not just individual events to cut down on administration.

There has been additional funding received to support community centres and on this occasion, there is only a four-week window for applications.

Cllr. Gilligan thanked J Moroney Ward for the presentation and noted the substantial amount of work involved in keeping community centres operational.

The report was noted.

  1. Social Inclusion week

A. Troy (SSO) delivered a presentation outlining the events of Social Inclusion Week which will run from the 14th – 20th of November. There were 37 applications received for funding with 27 activities approved to date.

She selected some highlights including events in the Knocklyon Men's Shed, Newcastle Community Centre and Knockmitten Community Centre where Faróige are hosting a bingo night.

Cllr Gilligan commented on the busy schedule and asked colleagues to share the calendar with their networks.

Cllr O’Connor welcomed all the events and mentioned he would support increased funding to the community department should it be required.

The report was noted.

  1. Miscellaneous Items

(a) LECP

J Moroney Ward gave a report on the status of the LECP. A meeting of the advisory committee has taken place on the 27th of October and an outline of the timelines and work-plan was shared with the group. A discussion about the development of the high-level goals also took place.

The Advisory Group noted the timelines for completion of a review, socio economic analysis and that the next meeting would focus on reviewing same and agreeing High Level Goals. The group were also updated on the various community consultation events ongoing to support building an evidence base, not only for agreement on high level goals, but for the planning of online surveys and questionnaires to support the LECP Consultation Process. The group will be required to review a consultation plan for the LECP at the next meeting but also acknowledged that the data collection and analysis approach must be flexible in line with new census data that will emerge during 2023.

Further updates on the process will be brought to this SPC as it progresses.

There were contributions from Cllrs Gilligan and O’Connor and the report was noted.

(B) Age Friendly Update (Pre-recorded)

The report was noted.

(c) Healthy Age Friendly Homes Update (pre-recorded)

  1. Swayne referenced the report and in particular the Older Persons Council. There is a meeting scheduled on 30th of November where the terms of reference and the agenda will be set.

South Dublin Older Peoples Council Membership is 20 people of which 5 are male and 15 females. 18 older people’s groups are represented and a further 9 people wish to be involved in consultation & specific project work.

Age friendly parking

6 Age Friendly Parking Bays have been installed in 4 locations across the county (Community centres). Libraries & Community Centres have identified further sites.

Age Friendly Bench locations have been identified in Lucan Village & Rathfarnham Village, and adjacent to the new Petanque area in Lucan.

There were contributions from Cllrs. Gilligan and Holohan who welcomed the report and all the supports for older people.

The report was noted.

(d) Sports Plan

S3 consultants have begun work with on behalf of the Council on the development of a local sports plan for the County.  This plan has a working draft title of "Active South Dublin" to capture the principals of both the Council's ethos for sport and recreation and the Active Cities programme which is to enhance and maximise sporting, recreational and general activity for all. The consultants have been briefed on local strategies including the recently finalised County Development Plan and the context for the Local Economic and Community Plan.

Members of this SPC form an advisory group for the sports plan process and they are invited to give feedback on the proposed online survey questionnaire that will be key to encouraging consultation with and input from individuals, clubs and community partners across the County.  

Consultation will also take place with key internal and external partners through November.

A draft of Active South Dublin should be completed by February 2023, and this will be made available to the SPC for review.

Cllr. Gilligan confirmed he is happy to support the process in any way he can and the report was noted.

(E) Community Infrastructure Grants

The Community Infrastructure Fund of €350,000 provided in the Council’s 2022 Revenue Budget again offered community groups, including sports clubs, the opportunity to apply for funding to assist with the costs of either constructing new facilities or for the modernisation and/or expansion of existing facilities.  Groups, including boards of management of community facilities, could apply online for grants ranging from a minimum of €5,000 up to a maximum of €50,000 during the period from 19th September to 7th October 2022.  The fund was heavily oversubscribed, and a detailed assessment process based on the proposed projects' local community impact, value for money, funding, sustainability, and viability is ongoing with an initial tranche of €207,093 in funding approved. Additional applications received are being assessed to utilise the balance of funding available under the 2022 Community Infrastructure Fund and a further report will be brought to the December Council Meeting in this regard

The report was noted.

  1. Accessible Toilets & Childcare

(A) Accessible Toilets

Within the Council’s community development grants programme, community groups are given the opportunity to submit applications for funding to assist with costs associated with organising local community events and festivals.  While these events vary in format, attendance, and locations, they can be broadly grouped into the following three categories:

Area/estate-based events; Local community events and larger community events.

Included in this process, the team assess how the event will deliver a positive community impact and ensure involvement and inclusion of all the local community.  In this context, the principle applied to the provision of accessible toilet facilities is that if the organisers consider it necessary that public toilet facilities are required based on the event and location, that should also include provision for fully accessible toilet facilities.

The team are reviewing the current Funding application process to add a further requirement for the applicants to confirm the measures they are incorporating into their event proposal to ensure that it is accessible for all to attend and participate.  The Council’s Disability Liaison, Access and Equality Officer is providing advice on this and the proposed updated application reflecting the amendments will be circulated to the SPC members for feedback in the coming weeks.

There were contributions from Cllr. Gilligan and Cllr. O’Connor enquiring about toilet facilities for the Park Run weekly event that takes place all over the county. J. Moroney Ward confirmed that the team are reviewing the current facilities and will report back to the committee.

The report was noted.

(B) Childcare

J Moroney Ward informed the committee that her team are committed to undertaking to produce a childcare analysis report in the first quarter of 2023. The team will work with the SDCC childcare committee to help provide a basis for understanding the future childcare needs of the community. A positive step was recently taken when the planning team around the Clonburris SDZ met with the SDCCC around the potential for childcare provision in Clonburris SDZ.  An agreed outcome of that meeting is that at pre submission stage, the private landowners in Clonburris will be required to commit to a meeting with the SDCCC team in relation to childcare facility planning, which will support sharing of best practice design principals to inform and guide all planning applications relating to childcare facilities in Clonburris SDZ.

The report was noted.

  1. AOB

C Ward addressed the committee to inform them of the current timelines around the Lucan Pool and that it is likely to be Summer 2023 when it is completed.

There were contributions from Cllr Gilligan and Cllr Casserly.

*There was no other business, and the meeting was concluded.